Though the curve of the third COVID-19 wave almost flattened, the decision regarding the face mask rule will be taken carefully, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Sunday.
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Tope's comments come a day after Maharashtra reported 893 COVID-19 cases and eight fatalities due to the infection. "The peak of the third wave had seen 48,000 cases per day in Maharashtra. Now the number of fresh cases is not even ten per cent (as compared with the peak). The number of active cases is around 9,000 now," Tope told reporters in Jalna.
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When asked about further relaxation of COVID-19 norms, including doing away with the face mask rule, Tope said, "Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) is constantly saying that we cannot assume that that COVID pandemic is over. So the decision on mask liberty will be taken after careful consideration".
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The Maharashtra government had on Tuesday stressed the need to continue to observe COVID-appropriate behaviour like wearing of masks, maintaining social distancing and frequently sanitising hands though it withdrew the orders issued on separate dates in July and August 2021 and the SOP dated August 10.

With PTI inputs.